Lopatcong Invitational Swim Meet produces record times

For the 38th consecutive summer, Lopatcong played host to hundreds of youth swimmers for the Lopatcong Invitational Swim Meet. Present were local travel teams ranging from Hackettstown to Palmer Township.

The daylong exhibition, which saw the teams compete in an array of 82 individual and team events, begun with a bang: Hackettstown swimmers Julia Castaneda, 12, and her 14-year old sister, Sierra, both broke the event's 100 meter individual medley records. Their times were 1:18.29 and 1:14.47, respectively.

The elder Castaneda said, "This is both our fourth time here and first time breaking a record. Julia got hers before me, so it made me say, 'I have to do it now.'"

Despite keeping Hackettstown in contention early in the team race, the Castanedas were eventually upstaged by another sibling duo. Eight year olds Francesco and Fulvia D'Avela of the Easton Swim Team each broke the event's 25 meter breaststroke by at least a full second.

Rivalry eventually went further than the household. The exhibition was filled with conference rivals, which escalated the significance of each race.

Hunterdon County YMCA coach Elyse Linfante noted, "The kids are excited to swim against everyone in their league, and probably especially excited to go against Flemington-Raritan."

Lopatcong Swim Team captain Ricky Castaneda (no relation to the Castaneda sisters) added that, besides conference rival Belvidere, Flemington-Raritan is the team to beat. "Flemington always wins, so we look to do well against them."

However, Flemington-Raritan appeared to be a non-factor opposed to the surging Belvidere squad, which won the team competition; at one point Belvidere led by an impressive 335 points. Their efforts were led by 16-year-old Zachary Kantz, who won three races through 60 individual events, and a team-combined eleven first-place finishes.

Teammate Olivia Simone added, "Our coaches have really helped us improve our strokes, so we always think we should be winning."

Beyond the value of standings and bragging rights was the opportunity to improve. Hackettstown swimmer Nneka Pilgrim, who broke the event's 50 meter breaststroke record, said, "All of these meets are equally important. It's plenty of pressure to perform."

Bronstein added that, "Even though it's not a regular season meet, it's really important for us to improve times for the rest of the season."

As the day waned down, Belvidere earned a large trophy and a potential target on their backs, come the winter season. However, the real victory was earned by all swimmers, who managed to extinguish yet another 90-degree summer day.

Hunterdon County's Brianna Broderick summed it up best: "It was nice to go in the pool, especially with how hot it is. I had fun just spending time with my friends."